It is known to adjustably mount at least one of the end shafts of a mechanical conveyor of the endless carrier type. Examples of conveyors which include an adjustable end shaft mount, existing in the patent literature, are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 843,824 granted Feb. 12, 1907, to Edward A. Johnston; by U.S. Pat. No. 1,571,009 granted Jan. 26, 1926, to Hiram A. Holzer; by U.S. Pat. No. 1,620,168, granted Mar. 8, 1927 to James W. Silver; by U.S. Pat. No. 1,660,939, granted Feb. 28, 1928 to Karl F. Snow; by U.S. Pat. No. 1,785,141, granted Dec. 16, 1930, to Rolla A. Morten: by U.S. Pat. No. 1,787,984, granted Jan. 6, 1931, to Irving R. Hippenmeyer; by U.S. Pat. No. 1,794,491, granted Mar. 3, 1931, to Hugh P. Robbins; by U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,100, granted Aug. 8, 1944, to Ronald E. J. Nordquist; by U.S. Pat. No. 2,391,700, granted Dec. 25, 1945, to Henry W. Hapman; by U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,169, granted Oct. 27, 1959, to John D. Russell; by U.S. Pat. No. 2,953,241, granted Sept. 20, 1960, to Herbert A. Lehman; by U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,775, granted May 16, 1967, to Owen A. Meyer and Segurd J. Andreasen; and by U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,260, granted June 2, 1970, to Robert W. Clyne.
Most of the conveyors disclosed by these patents include a separate adjustment screw or the like at each end of the end shaft. Also, many of such conveyors are without a shock absorber means for absorbing shock loads which would otherwise have to be carried by the bearing at the end of the end shaft.
Of the above listed patents, Morten U.S. Pat. No. 1,785,141 and Nordquist U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,100 disclose mounting structure for an end shaft of a conveyor which is adapted to move both ends of the end shaft together, in an equal amount. Morten U.S. Pat. No. 1,785,141 discloses a way of performing such movement without disturbing the driving connections. Nordquist U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,100 discloses one form of mechanism for absorbing shock in a conveyor.
The present invention relates to the provision of an improved end shaft mount for a conveyor, characterized by a construction which allows both ends of the shaft to be moved together. The end shaft mount of this invention is particularly usable with an elevator type conveyor, and in particular a drag type elevator conveyor similar to what is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,171, granted Apr. 16, 1968, to Jay S. Eaton, for elevating heated asphalt.
Examples of other types of elevator type conveyors are shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,252,033, granted Aug. 12, 1941, to Arnold Redler and U.S. Pat. No. 2,265,672 granted Dec. 9, 1941, to Arnold Redler.